Hello Fastlaners!
It is nice to be here with you. I'd like to tell you about my story this far and what I plan to do now. Hope you don't mind if it's long, details seem to have their own flow as you write.
First: I'm male, about 34 years old from a European country, but not one in which you are sort of well-off by default, it is a former Communist country. At the time of the economic reset (approximately when I was born) most people had nothing except their house or flat. When I was a teen, there was already some class differentiation, but one could say that society was still quite equal materially. In any case, I could see clearly that to move up, to emerge from the masses of people a regular existence would not be enough. You had to be special in some way.
It might be important to note that in a former socialist country this idea of upward social mobility was not quite the same as I imagine it is in a capitalist (and maybe democratic) country. In such a society, education was really the one way up, for example by becoming a doctor, an engineer, an economist, etc (I exclude party members, that was frowned upon in my environment). The idea that education is the key is still strong today, but it's origins are/were more well-founded than in a country with a historically luckier path of development, as it was based on decades of experience in which there really was no other way (okay, maybe emigration, if one could manage to get out).
So my parents, especially my mother, also encouraged me to be good academically. And I was, I would say quite naturally. The main reason for that was reading: I discovered it around the age of 10, and I was an extremely voracious reader for the next four-five years for sure. I read anything, literally anything and on many many different fields, from science to fiction. My favourite themes were history and geography. Of course I could read from around 7 years old, but I was not that interested in reading at that time yet.
As a result, I got in to a good university. I quickly found that it does not need me full-time, so I was doing a lot of extracurricular activities, including an economics and political discussion group, unpaid volunteer work and a part-time sales job for brokerage services, among others.
I was also reading books at my local library, and found a book by an author I don't consider so good (especially today), but still quite good in a sense that it showed a different mindset than 99.8% of the people around me had. Well, maybe you have guessed it, that was R. Kiyosaki and his Cashflow-series.
Despite my early exposure to it, it did not result in a money-chasing mindset nor a more mature real business mindset. Looking back I believe I was still quite immature and also lacked any real professional skill. However, my earlier realization of knowing to do something special to get ahead was still there. So I wanted to get in a very good international management programme at my university, one that was ranked at the top of the world. I had everything to get in, except that they changed a regulation at the last moment, which disqualified me from even submitting an application that would be considered (I still submitted it). I requested a meeting with the local programme director, a high-ranking university to complain, but to no avail, there was no change.
However, he suggested a way worse scholarship option, which I applied for and got, and as a result, went to the Far East. I liked there so much that after a short stint at a huge energy company (where I only planned to stay a around 6-9 months but was fired from after 3), I went back and learned a quite important language.
This knowledge allowed me to take a - by the standards of my homeland - extremely lucrative position in which I was located at the Far East. It was such a good opportunity that I just had to aim for it. So I did and lived there for around 5 years.
I read Fastlane at perhaps the second year there. To be honest I don't remember howI found it, but I am sure it was not recommended to me, I just found it somehow. What was written there felt as if I know it already, it was extremely logical and well-put. I did not have it that systemized in my mind though. Nevertheless, I had a business idea from a few years back which also fit the framework quite well, and now with my newly-gained capital I felt that it could be put on track. I made a mistake though: I was not willing to quit my position for that risky venture yet, so we partnered with one of my good friends. He was reliable and should have been competent. However, he wasn't. By making him the chief executive (not CEO, I use the words as descriptors) I lost control, and then we had endless arguments because he still had an employee mindset. We even raised quite some money, but it was all wasted due to too high spending, indecisiveness and bad decisions. Overall, it was my fault. That waa around 2 years back, the company did not even live until its second birthday.
After this I decided I will quit the job I do. In the past years I earned good money and could have earned more, however, I did not enjoy it anymore, and the amount I saved and traded is enough to support me while I begin to build a Fastlane. In that regard I can be comfortable, which is both good and bad. Good as I don't have to worry about going hungry or losing shelter, bad as the pressure to perform is low.
Nevertheless, I feel that I am disciplined enough to do what needs to be done, and that I will have a lot of enjoyment as soon as I can get traction. I feel it is greatly exciting if you manage to provide value in your own system.
As of now I am still in that phase in which I am trying to sense what are the good opportunities that fit me. I am researching a topic in which I feel I can tap something, but it is yet not entirely clear what that is and if its size is not too big as a first. I have also got a few offers to cooperate on fields that might be more simple. I also generate a lot of ideas which I likely won't execute upon, at least not all of them.
I joined the Forum today, because I wanted to tell you about this and to start my journey in that regard. Hopefully you found the story interesting and perhaps feel that you could share your impressions and provide useful advice. I read some other introductions and saw that the community is very supportive, that's why I mentioned latter. Please also feel free to ask any question, if you have.
Thank you:
Redbird
It is nice to be here with you. I'd like to tell you about my story this far and what I plan to do now. Hope you don't mind if it's long, details seem to have their own flow as you write.
First: I'm male, about 34 years old from a European country, but not one in which you are sort of well-off by default, it is a former Communist country. At the time of the economic reset (approximately when I was born) most people had nothing except their house or flat. When I was a teen, there was already some class differentiation, but one could say that society was still quite equal materially. In any case, I could see clearly that to move up, to emerge from the masses of people a regular existence would not be enough. You had to be special in some way.
It might be important to note that in a former socialist country this idea of upward social mobility was not quite the same as I imagine it is in a capitalist (and maybe democratic) country. In such a society, education was really the one way up, for example by becoming a doctor, an engineer, an economist, etc (I exclude party members, that was frowned upon in my environment). The idea that education is the key is still strong today, but it's origins are/were more well-founded than in a country with a historically luckier path of development, as it was based on decades of experience in which there really was no other way (okay, maybe emigration, if one could manage to get out).
So my parents, especially my mother, also encouraged me to be good academically. And I was, I would say quite naturally. The main reason for that was reading: I discovered it around the age of 10, and I was an extremely voracious reader for the next four-five years for sure. I read anything, literally anything and on many many different fields, from science to fiction. My favourite themes were history and geography. Of course I could read from around 7 years old, but I was not that interested in reading at that time yet.
As a result, I got in to a good university. I quickly found that it does not need me full-time, so I was doing a lot of extracurricular activities, including an economics and political discussion group, unpaid volunteer work and a part-time sales job for brokerage services, among others.
I was also reading books at my local library, and found a book by an author I don't consider so good (especially today), but still quite good in a sense that it showed a different mindset than 99.8% of the people around me had. Well, maybe you have guessed it, that was R. Kiyosaki and his Cashflow-series.
Despite my early exposure to it, it did not result in a money-chasing mindset nor a more mature real business mindset. Looking back I believe I was still quite immature and also lacked any real professional skill. However, my earlier realization of knowing to do something special to get ahead was still there. So I wanted to get in a very good international management programme at my university, one that was ranked at the top of the world. I had everything to get in, except that they changed a regulation at the last moment, which disqualified me from even submitting an application that would be considered (I still submitted it). I requested a meeting with the local programme director, a high-ranking university to complain, but to no avail, there was no change.
However, he suggested a way worse scholarship option, which I applied for and got, and as a result, went to the Far East. I liked there so much that after a short stint at a huge energy company (where I only planned to stay a around 6-9 months but was fired from after 3), I went back and learned a quite important language.
This knowledge allowed me to take a - by the standards of my homeland - extremely lucrative position in which I was located at the Far East. It was such a good opportunity that I just had to aim for it. So I did and lived there for around 5 years.
I read Fastlane at perhaps the second year there. To be honest I don't remember howI found it, but I am sure it was not recommended to me, I just found it somehow. What was written there felt as if I know it already, it was extremely logical and well-put. I did not have it that systemized in my mind though. Nevertheless, I had a business idea from a few years back which also fit the framework quite well, and now with my newly-gained capital I felt that it could be put on track. I made a mistake though: I was not willing to quit my position for that risky venture yet, so we partnered with one of my good friends. He was reliable and should have been competent. However, he wasn't. By making him the chief executive (not CEO, I use the words as descriptors) I lost control, and then we had endless arguments because he still had an employee mindset. We even raised quite some money, but it was all wasted due to too high spending, indecisiveness and bad decisions. Overall, it was my fault. That waa around 2 years back, the company did not even live until its second birthday.
After this I decided I will quit the job I do. In the past years I earned good money and could have earned more, however, I did not enjoy it anymore, and the amount I saved and traded is enough to support me while I begin to build a Fastlane. In that regard I can be comfortable, which is both good and bad. Good as I don't have to worry about going hungry or losing shelter, bad as the pressure to perform is low.
Nevertheless, I feel that I am disciplined enough to do what needs to be done, and that I will have a lot of enjoyment as soon as I can get traction. I feel it is greatly exciting if you manage to provide value in your own system.
As of now I am still in that phase in which I am trying to sense what are the good opportunities that fit me. I am researching a topic in which I feel I can tap something, but it is yet not entirely clear what that is and if its size is not too big as a first. I have also got a few offers to cooperate on fields that might be more simple. I also generate a lot of ideas which I likely won't execute upon, at least not all of them.
I joined the Forum today, because I wanted to tell you about this and to start my journey in that regard. Hopefully you found the story interesting and perhaps feel that you could share your impressions and provide useful advice. I read some other introductions and saw that the community is very supportive, that's why I mentioned latter. Please also feel free to ask any question, if you have.
Thank you:
Redbird
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